#pack structure

[omegaversetheory]

Your Pack - Through the Ages #1

Traditional Omegaverse

Long post ahead! Now this is all heavily informed by my own aus and headcannons and therefore is a bit more alternative than some of the aus and fics you've stumbled across only because I've decided to dive really deep here and get creative.

As you know, I don't believe that an omegaverse would mirror our understanding of culture, sociology, etc.. So before you flood my inbox with a "this isn't realistic!" note, save yourself the keystrokes, I know and that's my point.

Pack Leadership

You are a part of your paternal grandfather's pack as the culture you live in is patriarchal. Your grandfather is an alpha and also serves the role of pack head just like his father before him. Your father is an alpha and holds the position of "second alpha". When your grandfather dies he will become the pack head. Your grandmother is an beta and fulfills the role of Lady of the Pack, if she were an omega or alpha she could also fulfil this role. As your grandfather is the leader of men, she is the leader of women and children. When the men are away: trading, hunting, or otherwise she is the acting pack leader. Your father's position as second alpha does not supersede her authority.

While it is common for the pack head and the pack lady to be coupled, that is not always the case. The Lady of the Pack is always someone who grew up in the pack, not someone who married in. When your brother becomes pack head after your father your mother (who will likely succeed your grandmother as the Lady) will pick her replacement. Traditionally it is the previous pack head's eldest daughter. Your brother's wife would then become that Lady's second.

The pack head and the pack second do not travel together. When there is something that needs to be handled outside of your pack's region - normally your father is sent to handle it under your grandfather's explict direction.

Pack Territory

Your region can vary in size. It gets larger when a daughter of the pack alpha's line get's married, as land is often part of her dowry. Trading with other packs in the area can also be a source of expansion, but the biggest cause for expansion is often absorbing another pack altogether. This may happen after a pack war, but a merge may also come about as a political decision to strengthen both bodies.

Large packs may split up and live as pods around the pack region, unified under the direction of the pack head. In this case, each pod would have it's own leader - normally an alpha but it could be a beta. Pod leaders would be connected to the pack head through a familial line, the most common is that the pod leaders are the pack head's sons, nephews, or grandsons.

A pack split occurs after a civil war, or may occur if a pack head feels the population and territory is becoming too large to control. Unlike a Pod split, a pack split means the territory would be permanently split according to the pack head/current circumstances. The new pack would not be a pod and therefore would not be entitled to any resources, protection, or miscellaneous support from that parent pack. This is not always a negative thing, sometime it occurs if a pod begins to flourish further than anticipated and it makes sense to become independent.

Gender Roles -

Men and women have very clear and distinct roles. A pack or pod leader is always a man. Men are also warriors, traders, farmers, gatherers, etc.. Women are seen as vital to the pack's prosperity and therefore are not to engage in work that takes them outside of the pack region. Women are teachers, keep the pack records, are crafters who make things for the men to trade, take care of the children, are often cooks (but not always), etc.. In many cases female pack members recieve a more well rounded education, than their male counterparts who begin the apprenticeship process from a very young age and only learn the skills required of that position.

Alphas, betas, and omegas also have different roles. Alpha men are normally chosen to fulfill combat/very physical roles such as warriors, builder, shephards, mechanics etc.. Beta men might be navigators, negotiators, engineers, etc.. Omega men might also be farmers, gatherers, cooks, voyagers, architects etc.. Men are the ones that leave the pack frequently - it is no uncommon for a man to be away from the pack for many weeks at a time due to his occupation.

Alpha women are often teachers/educators/child rearers, they might provide pack protection if the men are away, and frequently engage in trades like carpentry, blacksmithing, etc.. Beta women are doctors/nurses/morticians, gardeners, tailors, record keepers, librarians etc. Omega women are often painters, ceramicists, chandlers, printers, lawkeepers stenographers they might tend to small animals like chicken/rabbits. Women always stay within pack territory unless of an emergency.

Children/Families

Children grow up in their parents' homes until they are either married or can support themselves via the wages from their occupation. All children are educated through the age of 13. At age 3, children are sent to a nursery to be looked after by nursery attendants here they will receive basic schooling. At aged 6, children move up to "reading school" which lasts until age 11. Years 12 and 13 are spent in a more rigorous environment called "topper" in which they are scouted after by townspeople looking for new apprentices, take apptitude tests, try out different jobs, and hone skills in specific areas. Boys typically begin their apprenticeships full time at 14. Girls often move on to "AES" or "academic and educational stimulation" which may last until age 18, but they may leave at any time, most leave by 15. Girls who complete AES are normally then trained to be governesses, teachers, law-readers/makers, etc.. Apprenticeships and other extra-vocational training normally lasts 2-3 years.

Due to the limited resources of a pack, couplings aren't permitted to have children any time they want. Instead, they must wait for periods of prosperity to be granted a special license. Licenses are handed out based on wait time, for example a coupling that has been bonded/married for 3 years would be ahead of a coupling that has just been bonded. Having children out of bond is normally unacceptable, as it could easily put a strain on pack resources. In large affluent packs, this is not as much of a worry. In a normal pack, couplings wouldn't have to wait more than a year to get a child-rearing license and if they were just bonded, they would often wait half that time. It is a sign of bad fourtune ahead if the wait time becomes longer than 24 months or you notice your pack without any unweaned children. (Bonding liscenses will be touched on in another post, but also exist to prevent incest and intermixing of close family lines)

Because couplings cannot have children whenever they'd like, multiples like twins or triplets are seen as a true blessing - and that family will be said to have good favor forever. Marrying a multiple is also said to be good luck as multiples often run in family lines.

Some packs have family limits - for example a coupling may not have more than four full term pregnancies. Others have occupation limits, for example a farmer's family may have seven pregnancies but a warrior's family might only have three. Others may have no limits at all and put more of the financial risk on the parents.

Children are raised by their parents but also by all of the adults in their village. It is common for a child to refer to family friends and neighbors as their aunt or uncle (though the word used specifically might be distinctive of their dynamic rather than their gender)

[omegastorms]

Pack Structure

I've decided to start putting up some of what I've nailed down for my own au since I enjoy reading others so much. This seemed like a good place to start. This is a high fantasy setting with shifters, so take note of that.

Dynamic Make Up

While each secondary has typical roles and behaviors associated with them that doesn't mean that everyone fits in the typical roles as it's a spectrum. Individuals will be funneled into roles that suit their strengths, whether or not it's associated with their secondary gender for the good of the collective.

Generally, the breakdown for how many of each designation is: 40% Betas, 35% Alphas, 25% Omegas.

Living Spaces

For the most part, packs are large usually having at least 20 individuals usually more. Most packs will have a large central base that anyone can use, with smaller houses surrounding it for clans or mated pairs who want more privacy.

Prime Alphas

There is only one prime alpha in every pack that typically leads. It is a position the collective can elevate an alpha of their choosing to, or take away if they feel they aren't doing a good job. There are several small differences between a prime alpha and a regular one. However, the biggest difference is a prime alphas commands work on everyone, including alphas.

Governing Councils

Each designation has a council that oversees it and helps advise individuals as well as tackles any smaller disagreements happening within the pack. They're typically made up of highly respected elders. They also appoint advisors to the prime alpha.

Alpha Roles

Alphas typically handle security and most fighting based needs. However because they're stronger then betas and omegas they also help with heavy lifting and construction.

Beta Roles

Betas are mainly archivists, strategists, and historians. They are also very keen hunters so many times they are out hunting to help provide food.

Omega Roles

Omegas are usually seen as the emotional centers/glue that holds everything together. However they usually stay close to home (though not all do). Some choose to float into beta roles. But most of them are tailors, weavers, gardeners, and armorists.

[samuraijacksoff]

iv lately been converting minecraft screencaps into 32x32 pixels so i can cross stitch them :)

[paperzest]

Origami Miles Edgeworth, designed and folded by me from an uncut square of red and white double tissue paper, around 45 cm before folding. This time, he has color changes! Yay!!!

Might get more/better photos later

And might also fold another with different paper colors too

Starting square below

edit: photos below look closer to the actual color, 2nd fold here:

3rd fold here

4th here because I am still struggling to get the appropriate paper color

Ok I made another Origamiworth linked here and this one is from burgundy paper.

and Phoenix here

[imerian]

Vr46 academy keychains

Set of five charms that all match in different ways

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　 . ✦　　˚　

Open for detailed pictures of each one

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ *ੈ✩‧₊˚

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.:

˖⁺‧₊˚⭒✮⭒˚₊‧⁺˖

. ݁₊ ✶. ݁ ˖ˎˊ˗

I ran out of tags so I'll say it here but i would greatly appreciate a reblog, especially if you share your thoughts on these pieces in tags (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

(Also i forgot that bez have matching part with luca so I didn’t add that to tags sorry

[lewyn-martell]

FAVORITE LINES FROM EVERY SONG I LIKE

Alexander Hamilton (Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin Manuel-Miranda)

[awesomebutunpractical]

I changed my mind. No adorable cat for the Straw Hats. They are getting the World's Worst Raptor instead.

[lampt0wn3]

Arachnophobia and Me, except it’s my official Clown design :3

Here he is! My silly man

Arachnophobia and Me - Chapter 6 - IdkMyName2700 - Lifesteal SMP [Archive of Our Own]

(here’s the fanfic, if interested)

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

this show makes absolutely no fucking sense!!!!!!! i love it so much

[camellcat]

thinking about making a pack au where they actually stick closer to hyenas than whatever the fuck they did in that episode

bc uh he-LLO? hyenas are like... one of the BIG popular matriarchal animals and we just acted like xander was all scary now? pshh. I mean he was hyenas are scary but buffy is absolutely highest rank top dog here no wayyy he'd be all scary to her since they're already y'know a "pack" of sorts. like I'm pretty sure he'd still defer to her. plus willow! her making friends with buffy first and just generally being a girl he'd rank below her as well (though I do wonder where his stance with giles would be)

and I get that xander already sorta had a new clan with the other possessed kids but even then why was HE at the top of that hierarchy?? in fact it was so barely structured at all I'm only assuming xander was a high rank bc he's just one of our mains. and the shot of them all walking ofc where he was front and center I can read basic filmmaking choices lol

but also hyenas have FRIENDS! they have cliques and groups within their own clan. isn't that so cool? why did they just disregard xander's friendship with the scoobies? I think the fact xander had friends and quite loyal ones is like important? I mean okay I suppose it's all he's in this clan now he's cut ties with the scoobies, but to me at least I think that's kinda boring haha. though actually even if xander had the support of the scoobies, with how that clan were already a group before xander and not with xander at all, he'd actually probably be like real goddamn low anyways instead of more equal like it was shown

look I really have no idea about any of this I've just been looking up hyena facts for the past hour bc I thought it was neat. I simply think they should've done more with this instead of oo look xander's all feral and evil when they literally chose hyena to be their animal. like ooookay then whateverrrr lame

[thy-fucks-runneth-dry]

More lineart! You can see I got more comfortable drawing the wild werewolves design lol

I've kinda fleshed out werewolves in my head a bit. They are fond of jewelry and whimsigoth is a popular fashion style among most werewolves. Gold bangles on their tusks indicate status/pack/family affiliations maybe. Most have facial markings resembling wolves. Most favor loose and breathable clothing because they do still shift into wolves. Basically a bunch of nomadic hippies.

Most werewolves avoid non-werewolf cities because they tend to be too big (hitting their heads on everything and bumping shoulders with everyone gets tiresome after a while)

[kayakima]

Shooting ideas together for a later chapter of OWL and I suddenly started tearing up over the idea of Reiner getting a little squishy post-peace talk attempt #1 and Jean teasing him about it in a loving way leading to some banter and just… ugh…

It’s such a subtle thing for me in canon because it’s never explicitly talked about, but Reiner losing so much weight after he gets back to Marley and how it’s never mentioned outwardly but ties in with his depression is just something painfully relatable to me. I just really enjoy the idea of him getting soft and becoming a huge foodie post-rumbling

[paperzest]

Current origami WIP

Reworking for color change! Yay!

[grim-faux]

i just like writing stories about Mono being an intense lil guy and no one, not even his older self, is really capable of dealing with him.

the Thin Man is going to start a support group for everyone that had to deal with this child, and it'll consist of only Six and Mono's old pack. And the other kids will be like, 'yeh, we tossed him down hole,' and Six will nod and hum 'same'.

[banicraft]

Structure Block Straturday!!

[chameleonsd1sh]

"oh so you think using big words is pretentious" no but i do think i can tell when somebody is using big words because those words communicate their message best, versus when they're using big words to distract from the fact that they have nothing real to say